The SF K Files is a place for parents who are seeking a school in San Francisco. The site offers up reviews of public, private and charter schools, as well as lots of advice and opinions from the community.

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Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Hot topic: Schools with openings

As people spend this week volunteering to set up classrooms across the district, they're getting early looks at classroom lists. Perhaps a topic on what schools have openings?

For example, we appear to have a few openings in the first grade Mandarin immersion classes at Starr King. No previous Mandarin experience is required for first grade (though count on your kid being a little confused at the beginning, but they'll pick it up quickly.) Anyone who's interested should call the school and then EPC. We know of at least two families that aren't coming back, but which don't appear to have officially removed themselves from the rolls yet. The seats won't officially come open until the ten day count, we believe. Everything could change in a heartbeat, of course.

Looking for a new school for your first grader? I just got email from a parent at the new Cantonese immersion public school opening at DeAvila and they have openings for incoming first graders. The district had been holding some spots for Cantonese speakers but is opening them up to all. It's a new school, so it won't be as if your child is dropping in to an already existing class. Very motivated parents and principal there, so I expect it's going to be a dynamite school. They'll be introducing Mandarin in 2nd grade, so your child would come out fluent in three languages. If you need more information, email me and I'll forward contact info.Beth weise -at-well-com(trying to foil the spam bots)

People who listed 7 choices in Round 1 and got none of their choices have priority in subsequent rounds over people who listed fewer than 7 choices in round 1 and got none of their choices, and both of those groups have priority over people who got one of their choices in Round 1. . However, I'm not sure that if you went 0/7 in Round 1 but don't add to the diversity of the schools you want in subsequent rounds that you will get assigned to a school you want. We got assigned to John Muir in Round 1, chose schools for the first several slots in Round 2 that appeared to have 1st grade openings, but got assigned to DeAvila, which was way down our list and only there because it was close to home and we needed to fill out our choices. Ultimately we decided not to take DeAvila because we were not comfortable with immersion in a langauge we don't know. We gave up our 1st grade space at DeAvila (looks like it's going to be a great school though, very motivated principal and parents) and gave up on the lottery.

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The SF K Files was started by a San Francisco mom who was seeking a kindergarten for her four-year-old daughter. You can read Kate’s story by clicking here. The site is now managed by a group of San Francisco parents and continues as a resource for families seeking public, private or charter options in San Francisco.